Spotlight on Research: Dr. Betty Dennis Print

Dr. Dennis serves as the dean as well as a full-time professor in the Division of Nursing. She has been employed at Dillard University since January 2004. Dr. Dennis had been at Dillard just over a year--just long enough to become oriented to her surroundings--when Hurricane Katrina struck. Prior to working at Dillard, Dr. Dennis was the chair of nursing and a faculty member at North Carolina Central State University. While at North Carolina Central, Dr. Dennis conducted numerous research and outreach projects on topics such as educating the community on increasing fiber intake and gaining control over one’s health care.

A mentor to many students throughout her career, Dr. Dennis empowers young people to take control of their destinies. With her encouragement, Dillard's nursing students have traveled to countries such as Thailand and Japan, and partnered with local universities such as the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Dennis has also facilitated student research opportunities with other schools, including summer programs at Pennsylvania State University and Harvard University.

Since coming to Dillard, Dr. Dennis has advanced the nursing curriculum, increased external funding for the division, established certification programs including the Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), and expanded and strengthened relationships with other universities like LSU and Boston College. Dr. Dennis also helped secure funding from the National Cancer Institute for Clinical Research Associate (CRA) training and certification for Dillard Nursing students and area health care professionals. Through collaboration with the LSU-Health Sciences Center and Ochsner Health Systems, the Dillard University Division of Nursing will initially target Dillard nurses and eventually include other area health care practitioners. The goal of the project is to provide in-depth training to prepare nurses to work in multiple clinical trial settings.

Dr. Dennis's belief in the importance of research has fostered a great appreciation for research in the Division of Nursing. Dr. Dennis supports her faculty members and students and is passionate about advancing research in accordance with Dillard's third Strategic Pillar, “to increase and enhance its commitment to and production of quality research.” Over the past three years the Division of Nursing has received over $3.7 million in federal and state funding. In addition, the Division of Nursing has a pending application for $6.9 million with the National Institutes of Health. A select listing of current and pending support for Dr. Dennis is below.

 

 

 
 
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